GREENFIELD — Thirty-three high school students from Massachusetts and Vermont received 2022 Peacemaker Awards on Wednesday night for their work in pursuit of racial and social justice.
The Interfaith Council of Franklin County and Traprock Center for Peace & Justice held their first in-person ceremony in three years to celebrate the chosen Peacemakers and their families in the Greenfield High School auditorium. The honorees were Liam Black, Lex Singh, Austin Sullivan, Asher Howes-Jensen and Blayr Crossman of Safe and Supportive Schools (SASS) at Ralph C. Mahar Regional School in Orange; Emery King and Rylee Hagar of Mohawk Trail Equity Alliance (MTEA) at Mohawk Trail Regional School in Buckland; members of the Mahar Social Justice Group; and members of Training Active Bystanders (TAB).
Traprock’s Pat Hynes opened the ceremony by explaining the awards in general were the result of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, after which the two sponsoring organizations wanted to recognize young people making contributions to their communities’ well-being.
“The world is better because of each of our 2022 Peacemakers,” she said at the podium. “It’s already better.”
Black, a Four Rivers Charter Public School student, is a veteran of his school’s Students for Racial and Social Justice. He explained he has worked to redesign the school’s bathrooms so students of any gender identity feel comfortable and safe.
“It’s a basic human right,” he said. “Everyone deserves to use the bathroom.”
Singh, a Pioneer Valley Regional School student who uses they/them pronouns, was nominated for working with the school’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance and supporting for the rights of LGBTQ individuals. Singh is also involved with Training Active Bystanders and was among that group’s honorees.
Sullivan was nominated for an award by Roxanne Trombly, a French language teacher at Mohawk Trail who described Sullivan as having “an amazing sense of humor and a heart of gold.” For his Senior Capstone project, Sullivan worked with a local church and the school community to raise more than $600 for a charity to advance awareness of gender equality.
Trombly also compared the 2022 Peacemakers to the beautiful flowers on the auditorium’s stage — the students walk into their classrooms budding and blossoming.
Howes-Jensen and Blayr Crossman, both of whom use they/them pronouns, were nominated by Mahar guidance counselor Caitlin McKenna, who introduced them to the audience Wednesday. Howes-Jensen and Crossman were described as energetic and passionate leaders of SASS who work to prioritize safety and inclusion. They organized a “walk-in” to their school’s cafeteria to protest the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill signed into law by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Howes-Jensen said they know what it’s like to feel unsafe and excluded.
King and Hagar were also introduced by Trombly. The two organized a walkout at Mohawk Trail as part of a nationwide protest against growing anti-LGBTQ legislation across the United States. This walkout was reportedly supported by 70% of the school’s students. King and Hagar also participated in a radio interview on WHMP’s afternoon show.
Peter Frost, Lewis Barrera, Astha Bernard, Adeline Chinian, Kayley Murphy, Saylor Kegans, Caroline White, Ava Liberty, Adelyn Seney and Kaitlyn Murray of the Mahar Social Justice Group also received Peacemaker Awards. The group was formed in 2020 — following the police killings of Black Americans George Floyd and Breonna Taylor — as a coalition to foster education, action and change within its members’ high school. The students have been working with Keyedrya Jacobs from Advancing Racial Justice in Schools to learn about micro-aggressions, cultural appropriation and anti-racism. The group also created displays during Black History Month and worked on special projects related to National Arab-American heritage, Asian/Pacific Islander heritage and the Save the Children’s Emergency Ukraine Fund. Kegans spoke for the group and expressed thanks for the honor.
TAB recipients were Lex Singh, Raven Singh, Lucy Koester, Jayna Leger, Amelia Fowler-Shaw, Kensey Gibson, Aiden Wall, Kelly Baird, Kayla Gauthier, Cooper Bullock, Jane Potee, James Staelens, Peter Loud, Julia Cox, Elizabeth Brown, Alana Redeker and Madilyn Sulda. TAB teaches students to analyze what harm is, learn why it is happening, examine its consequences and use skills to disrupt that harm. The recipients included at least two students from Vermont.
State Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, addressed the audience at the beginning of the ceremony and spoke about the world’s strife, including the war in Ukraine and the May 14 mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, and similar acts of violence in other American cities that same weekend.
“The murders in Buffalo were steeped in anti-Black, white supremacist hatred so corrupt and so vile it’s only human for us to wish — to pray — that such violence is unique to that one moment in time,” Comerford said. “But, friends, we know that’s not the case. We know that white supremacist organizing is on the rise. It’s wedged into mainstream political rhetoric. It’s spewed by pundits. It’s all over the internet.”
The award recipients will reportedly receive citations from their respective state legislatures. Each recipient was presented an award and a flower as they exited the stage Wednesday.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.